Shell has spent
more than $4 million in lobbying this year. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
was paid the most of any firm on the company’s lobbying rolls, pulling in
$240,000 in the first half of the year. Other firms that have lobbied for Shell
include Blank Rome, Patton Boggs and The Mathis Group.

Late
last month the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management asked energy companies to
rank their interest in drilling in the Chukchi Sea, off the Alaskan coast. The
lease could go up for sale in 2016 if there’s sufficient interest. Earlier this
month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that it expects the
United States to overtake Russia as the world's leading producer of oil and
natural gas.